You would have been hard pressed to have spent 2012 without coming across a sea of sporting images, primarily (in this country at least) of the Olympic Games in London. From the official branding and materials to the millions of photographs taken on people’s cameras and smartphones – these images form part of our culture and can contain a wealth of information. Research in this area takes place at the intersection of two disciplines - art history and the history of sport. Art history has tended to overlook sport as a subject because it often forms part of popular culture, rather than so-called high culture. Conversely, sports studies and the history of sport focus more on text rather than visual materials. But by looking at sporting images through the lens of an art historian, Mike hopes to uncover new facets of the representation of sport in culture and bring both disciplines together into a fruitful collaboration.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Research Encounter #6: Mike O'Mahony
A colleague and I dropped in to visit Dr Mike O’Mahony, a Reader in the Department of History of Art. Amidst discussions around impact and the forthcoming REF, he managed to describe his research in the highly topical area of sport and visual culture.
You would have been hard pressed to have spent 2012 without coming across a sea of sporting images, primarily (in this country at least) of the Olympic Games in London. From the official branding and materials to the millions of photographs taken on people’s cameras and smartphones – these images form part of our culture and can contain a wealth of information. Research in this area takes place at the intersection of two disciplines - art history and the history of sport. Art history has tended to overlook sport as a subject because it often forms part of popular culture, rather than so-called high culture. Conversely, sports studies and the history of sport focus more on text rather than visual materials. But by looking at sporting images through the lens of an art historian, Mike hopes to uncover new facets of the representation of sport in culture and bring both disciplines together into a fruitful collaboration.
You would have been hard pressed to have spent 2012 without coming across a sea of sporting images, primarily (in this country at least) of the Olympic Games in London. From the official branding and materials to the millions of photographs taken on people’s cameras and smartphones – these images form part of our culture and can contain a wealth of information. Research in this area takes place at the intersection of two disciplines - art history and the history of sport. Art history has tended to overlook sport as a subject because it often forms part of popular culture, rather than so-called high culture. Conversely, sports studies and the history of sport focus more on text rather than visual materials. But by looking at sporting images through the lens of an art historian, Mike hopes to uncover new facets of the representation of sport in culture and bring both disciplines together into a fruitful collaboration.
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